Peru expands presence at organic food fairs

Peru and its export agency MINCETUR, the Ministerio de Comercio Exterior y Turismo is expanding the promotion of Peruvian foods with more trade shows and missions such as at the recent Natural & Organic Products AsiaHong Kong show and the Natural Products Scandinaviashow (alongside the Nordic Organic Food Fair) in November 2018, and will be guest of honor at the next edition of BIOFACH, the world's leading organic products fair, on February 13-16, 2019 in Nuremberg, Germany.

"Naming Peru as the guest of honor at BIOFACH is a great privilege, but also a great opportunity to demonstrate at this international showcase that we are an excellent supplier of functional and organic products. Also, we will be able to promote the SuperFood Peru industry brand, a strategy that goes hand in hand with the worldwide fashion for a healthy living, by buying products that have health benefits," said Luis Torres Paz, director of Export Promotion at PROMPERÚ.

"It will undoubtedly be a new challenge for the industry, in which Peruvian business associations and public institutions will join forces to raise our country's profile."

The Peruvian involvement was spearheaded by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism and PROMPERÚ, with the support of Peru’s Foreign Trade Office (OCEX) in Hamburg and the Peruvian Embassy in Germany.

At BIOFACH 2018, the Peruvian delegation included 117 exporters, who held 445 meetings with current clients and made over 1,200 new contacts.

Some of the Peruvian superfoods that were in highest demand were quinoa, maca, chestnuts, and cacao-derived products; which were presented alongside products such as sacha inchi, avocado, and Brazil nut oil.

At the NOPA Hong Kong fair, which concluded on September 2, six Peruvian countries attended and were one of the most popular countries at the show.

Gaining attention from visitors were product launches from Peru superfoods supplier Wiraccocha Health Foods with its extruded gluten-free quinoa in cacao/chocolate, strawberry and vanilla flavors for breakfast cereals or dessert.

D'Marco of Peru launched its all natural with no additives or colorants table jams, marmalades and low sugar jams for diabetics, some with 'superfruits' and was rewarded for its excellent products by being awarded the Best New Product Innovation Award at NOPA.

Also present was Peru's XPODEKA, a supplier of Andean grain and superfoods such as chia, quinoa, maca, cacao and dried fruits such as lucuma.

Erick Aponte, Trade Commissioner at the Trade Commission of Peru in Hong Kong, said it was the first time the Peruvian government had coordinated a pavilion at the NOPA fair. "I believe growth for Peruvian food products will come from new regions such as Asia, as the USA is now a mature market," Mr. Aponte said.

Earlier this year, PROMPERU reported that Peru’s exports increased by 22 percent in 2017, ranking third among the fastest growing countries in the world and first in the Americas ahead of Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador and Mexico, and almost double of Uruguay and Chile.

Peru’s shipments amounted to US$44.212 billion in 2017, surpassing the performance of the last five years in terms of value, the highest rate of the last six years. Shipments of Fishery (US$1.088 billion) were up 18 percent, while products related to Peru 'Super Foods' brand consolidated shipments of US$3.461 billion during 2017, an increase of 8.7 percent over the previous year, while three new markets were added in 2017.